NBC To "Ease On Down The Road"?- Page 5
NBC To "Ease On Down The Road"?
#100NBC To
Posted: 1/17/15 at 3:26pm
My vote is for reconstruction of Geoffrey Holder's designs and staging, with George Faison doing choreography, and Ken Page as the Lion.
I did good?
Formerly gvendo2005
Broadway Legend
joined: 5/1/05
Blocked: After Eight, suestorm, david_fick, emlodik, lovebwy, Dave28282, joevitus, BorisTomashevsky
Broadway Legend
joined: 5/1/05
Blocked: After Eight, suestorm, david_fick, emlodik, lovebwy, Dave28282, joevitus, BorisTomashevsky
Starship
Broadway Star Joined: 7/29/12
Showface
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/25/14
#103NBC To
Posted: 1/17/15 at 7:10pm
"If not played by a star, the actress playing Dorothy will at least be 18."
"There is no way there going to get an actual little girl for Dorothy. They need someone who is more reliable that can handle the pressure."
China-Anne McClain has carried three seasons of a TV show, and she had at least one song in each one. Not to mention she had been in multiple movies, and she was one of the strongest contestants in "Sing Your Face Off", and she can sing her face off.
Zendaya also has carried multiple TV shows, has recorded many songs, been in multiple movies, and can sing her face off.
I think they both can handle a few months of rehearsing for The Wiz.
Visceral_Fella
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/18/12
jimmycurry01
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/05
#105NBC To
Posted: 1/18/15 at 12:43pmAnother thing to keep in mind for this project is the contacts the stars have with various record companies. NBC will undoubtedly want to release an album again, and competing companies are rather protective of their artists. Competing labels would lead to another Cinderella situation with no album being released.
#106NBC To
Posted: 1/18/15 at 1:15pm
Hold up. When you refer to CINDERELLA do you mean the Whitney Houston/Brandy television movie from the '90s. I have a soundtrack for it and it definitely isn't an audio rip from the DVD, it's the actual studio recordings with an alternate unused version of It's Possible/Impossible included.
Hmmm...interesting.
Updated On: 1/18/15 at 01:15 PM
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#107NBC To
Posted: 1/18/15 at 1:15pm
I think this is actually a wonderful idea. Something CONTEMPORARY! It would also be terrific to hear the score as it was originally done without Quincy Jones' thick production. No one but David Alan Grier should play the Wizard. They obviously need to do some tweaking to the book, but overall I'm more excited about this than I was about SOUND OF MUSIC or PETER PAN or--Gawd help us--THE MUSIC MAN.
Anyone suggesting that Seth "George Zimmerman Eyes" McFarlane should have TMM as his showcase really ought to be shot.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
jimmycurry01
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/05
#109NBC To
Posted: 1/18/15 at 4:32pm
It would also be terrific to hear the score as it was originally done without Quincy Jones' thick production.
NO.
They obviously need to do some tweaking to the book,
I SAID NO, DAMMIT.
Formerly gvendo2005
Broadway Legend
joined: 5/1/05
Blocked: After Eight, suestorm, david_fick, emlodik, lovebwy, Dave28282, joevitus, BorisTomashevsky
Broadway Legend
joined: 5/1/05
Blocked: After Eight, suestorm, david_fick, emlodik, lovebwy, Dave28282, joevitus, BorisTomashevsky
#112NBC To
Posted: 1/18/15 at 4:45pm
I would love to see a version that's actually faithful to the stage version. Essentially any version other of The Wiz other than the one we have out there would honestly be fantastic. Also, call me crazy, but I think Quvenzhané Wallis who just played Annie in that dreadful Annie remake would be a great Dorothy. Don't get me wrong, I love Judy, love Stephanie Mills...but I feel like every retelling of "Oz" loses something when Dorothy is played older. I would really love to see a really talented younger actor tackle the role.
Updated On: 1/18/15 at 04:45 PM
JohnyBroadway
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/12
BwayLeadman
Broadway Star Joined: 9/29/04
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#115NBC To
Posted: 1/18/15 at 7:20pmTHE WIZ OBC is infinitely better than the Quincy Jones version. As for the book, it has some extremely tone-deaf racial humor that will have to be dealt with. So yes, it needs tweaking.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
Starship
Broadway Star Joined: 7/29/12
Jufikar
Chorus Member Joined: 6/22/14
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#119NBC To
Posted: 1/18/15 at 8:29pm
"Also, call me crazy, but I think Quvenzhané Wallis who just played Annie in that dreadful Annie remake would be a great Dorothy."
You're crazy. The problem is that she's not a good dancer. If you look at any of her live performances, Dancing With The Stars or Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, she's always moved to the back when the dancing starts.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#120NBC To
Posted: 1/18/15 at 8:35pm
NBC, the correct choice out of The Music Man and The Wiz is obviously, The Wiz. It would be easier to cast, and they could bring more viewers than The Music Man.
Honestly, if people think Janelle Monae has a shot at playing the role as Dorothy in The Wiz on NBC has to drop that thought. Yes, she is a great singer and all, but she doesn't have the name behind her for people wanting to tune in. The young women who will be strongly considered for the role of Dorothy will most likely be Zendaya, China Anne McClain, and KeKe Palmer (wouldn't be surprised if Willow Smith got a call to read and sing a few lines). But at the end of the day, I personally think the role will go to KeKe Palmer (Even thought I would love if Adrienne Warren was given a shot) , with big diva names as the witches, and known males as The Wiz, and the others.
Visceral_Fella
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/18/12
#122NBC To
Posted: 1/18/15 at 10:28pm
THE WIZ OBC is infinitely better than the Quincy Jones version.
If you like a thin sound (particularly with regard to vocal arrangements) and tempi at a glacial pace, then yes it's infinitely better.
As for the book, it has some extremely tone-deaf racial humor that will have to be dealt with.
It was written by the one white guy on the team in the mid-to-late Seventies. You were expecting something nuanced? I'll go as far as interpolations from his revisions for stuff like the La Jolla '06 revival, but no further. No wholesale rewriting like Pan.
Formerly gvendo2005
Broadway Legend
joined: 5/1/05
Blocked: After Eight, suestorm, david_fick, emlodik, lovebwy, Dave28282, joevitus, BorisTomashevsky
Broadway Legend
joined: 5/1/05
Blocked: After Eight, suestorm, david_fick, emlodik, lovebwy, Dave28282, joevitus, BorisTomashevsky
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#124NBC To
Posted: 1/18/15 at 11:00pm
Maybe I would be the first to say that if The Wiz had to be the 2015 Live Musical I would be very disappointed, especially if they had to swop this with The Music Man as I was so looking forward for The Music Man Live.
I confess that I am not a fan of pop-music or anything that its pop related.
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